Milwaukee officially has a new Police Chief! Our prayers have been answered! Violent crime in Milwaukee will drop! Criminals, in record numbers, will suddenly cooperate with police officers! Burglaries, petty theft and homicides will become a thing of the past as the new chief waves his new magic badge and crime simply disappears!

OK, I’ll snap out of it.

As soon as Nan Haggerty announced that she was leaving the force, some were pleased, as they felt her policies were weak and she didn’t do enough to solve Milwaukee’s crime problem. It also meant they’d have a new person to blame for all of Milwaukee’s crime problems. I’ve read a few local columnists on JSOnline make comments stating that the new chief had better “get it right this time”. The implication being that the success or failure of our new police chief should be based solely on whether he reduces the crime rate. Huh? Man, talk about pressure!

Wake up call!

You don’t have to be a police officer or sociologist to understand that the police department, its chief, its officers, etc., are not responsible for the crime rate. Mr. Flynn has nothing to do with the crime rate in Milwaukee and expecting him to be the panacea to our problem is unfair to him. Citizens are most responsible for ensuring a sense of lawfulness and safety in our city. For the most part, most of us are keeping up that end of the bargain. But there are those who still continually drop the ball.

If you’ve ever read any of my blogs, you might see where I’m headed with this. Parents, not the police force, are responsible for lowering crime in our city. We need parents teaching children right from wrong and how to make good choices. We’ve got to have parents teaching their children that the best way out of poverty isn’t to complain about it but to pick yourself up and work, get an education.

Ethics, civics, and morality have been reduced to buzzwords. They usually creep out during an election year or when a new public official comes on the scene. It’s almost as if people are crying out for ethical, civil, moral treatment of all but they fear teaching these things, not wanting to offend anyone. Why is that?

I think that our new chief will do fine. Based on the many articles I’ve read about him he sounds like he has the experience, demeanor and vision to be chief of police for a major urban city. His biggest challenge will be developing a relationship with the community in the more violent areas of Milwaukee. That will mean removing all traces of doubt that many in poor neighborhoods have about MPD. He’ll need to deal swiftly and justly with abusive cops; that alone would be an accomplishment and would settle a lot of fears.

Milwaukee’s crime problem, which thankfully is not as bad as many other cities our size, won’t be solved overnight. We also can’t expect a new police chief to “get ‘er done” for us. But working together, we can make a difference. Let’s give Edward Flynn a chance to make a difference in Milwaukee, by allowing him to show us he understands how to use the power and tools now at his disposal.